If you’ve been through the entire menu at the Vegie Bar (twice) and are getting a little bored, then hop on the tram to St Georges Road in North Fitzroy, where you’ll meet Munsterhaus, the casual vegetarian cafeteria owned by Elena Bonnici of Northcote’s Pizze Meine Liebe.

The art-deco theme is obvious. With its timber booths and classroom chairs, the place resembles an old-school diner, and while the brick tiles are a tad cool and lacklustre, the service and food are anything but.

Chef Mathew Andrews (from Tofu Shop International in Richmond) puts a daily choice of hot dishes like curries, chickpea bakes or black bean tortillas into the traditional bain-maries and you can combine these with all manner of salads like tabouli or quinoa, or marinated tempeh and tofu with baked herbed vegies.

It’s an unfamiliar concept – you pay by the size of your plate, not what’s on it – but it’s easy enough to get used to. If their baby beets and garlic brussels don’t appeal, flourless cakes and other gluten free or vegan sweets make perfect desserts or excusable sugar fixes to team with nice coffee.